Today, the New York Fashion Tech Lab (NYFT Lab) started its fifth program, announcing the nine women-led entrepreneurial companies selected to participate. For the last five years, the NYFT Lab has been at the forefront of retail and fashion technology innovation and integration. This year, the chosen companies have developed market solutions focused on the outcome of the customer experience that harness the power of artificial intelligence, fit tech, visual search, RFID tracking and related technologies – and PAN is lucky to be a part of it.

PAN will be promoting the NYFT Lab and the 2018 Lab companies during the course of the 12-week program. We’re excited to share with our readers all of the new technologies that are helping the fashion and retail industries to not just evolve – but undergo a revolution that’s putting the customer at the forefront.

NYFT Lab, in residence at Spring Place, is welcoming a stellar group of start-ups poised to revolutionize the retail and fashion world. Those companies are:

If you’re not familiar with the program, NYFT Lab, founded by Springboard Enterprises, is the oldest non-profit, fashion-technology program in the world. This program provides an opportunity for women-led, fashion-focused technology companies to collaborate with iconic fashion brands, retailers, technology partners and well-known industry experts on new solutions at the forefront of innovation and integration.

Returning to work with this year’s class are NYFT Lab Founding Members Global Brands Group, LVMH and Macy’s. Second and third year veteran partners Bloomingdale’s, Kohl’s and MATCHESFASHION.COM retake their seats at the table, while newcomers Lands’ End, Perry Ellis International, and Tory Burch add their unique perspective. The program has also dialed-up efforts with tech partners for 2018. Microsoft – the NYFT Lab’s first formal technology partner – returns for its third year, as Flex returns for its second year. The NYFT Lab also welcomes Avery Dennison to the program as well as a new partnership with Accenture, previously announced in August 2017. All technology partners will work with the lab companies to enable iteration, validation and acceleration of their technologies to advance their businesses and the industry.